BATH

In the second half of Saturday morning’s Class B North high school lacrosse contest, Freeport players made a steady jog to the penalty area. In all, 11 Falcon penalties had the Morse Shipbuilders working a man-up, or even two throughout.

But, Freeport has senior goaltender Zac Wogan in net, and all the four-year starter did was stone Morse shot after shot as his team picked up an 11-6 victory on McMann Field.

The Falcons departed with their first win (1-2), while the Shipbuilders remain in search for that initial victory, dropping to 0-3.

Wogan turned aside 19 Morse shots, 12 coming in the second half when his teammates were whistled for eight infractions, helping Morse to a 23-16 shot advantage after intermission, 38-32 edge in all.

“Zac is ‘it’ for us, and I have been saying since he was a freshman that he was going to explode, and I think he is one of the top goalies in the state this year,” said Freeport coach Geoff Arris.

Wogan was especially tough in the third quarter, when Freeport went to the box four times, including twice giving Morse a two-man advantage. The Shipbuilders scored just once during that time, a Cameron Marco tally that brought the Shipbuilders to 6-5.

“We were a man down so much, but the communication was there, even when we were 4-v-6,” said Wogan. “We pushed out well and forced them to take outside shots. I was able to see the shots coming. This was a team that we needed to beat if we wanted to get to playoffs this season.”

“We are a young team, and when teams figure that out and start ripping it, we have to take time,” said Morse assistant coach Jason Williams, standing in for head coach Jay Paulus, who was out of town. “I thought we played our best game of the season today. We were a little gun shy at first, and they knew about Freeport’s goaltender. Their goalie kept them in the game and controlled the play.”

A key point of the game came with Freeport holding a one-goal advantage. Goals by Evan Owen, Eriksen Shea and Connor Dostie made for a 9-5 Falcons lead heading to the fourth, and Freeport was able to hold the Shipbuilders to just one goal the rest of the way.

“We know historically that we have been a third-quarter team, so we needed to come out and play better. We were able to do that,” said Arris, whose Falcons host Wells on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Even in second

Freeport answered an early push by Morse, getting a goal each from Owen and Dostie for a 2-0 lead. Down 3- 0 after an Eli Fox goal, the Shipbuilders solved Wogan when Marco fired a low shot into the cage.

The Falcons grabbed a 4-1 edge on a man-up chance 15 seconds into the second quarter on a goal by Reid Poissonnier, but Morse pushed back, receiving three straight goals from Matt Belanger to draw even with 3:50 left until halftime.

Freeport nugged ahead by a goal at the break on a Fox goal, and face-off specialist Evan Donald made it 6-4 early in the third.

Marco’s goal with 6:17 left in regulation made for a 9-6 contest before Freeport received a tally each from Donald and Fox to complete the scoring.

“We were finally passing the ball,” said Arris. “The last two games we were not moving our feet, so we worked in practice on moving. They are finally running plays for the first time and it showed today.”

Belanger’s three goals paced the Shipbuilders, who host Brunswick on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Marco had two goals, with Braden Olsen chipping in one. Pat McKenna and Declan Hall added an assist each. Morse goaltender Nate Knight had 13 saves.

Fox paced Freeport with a hat trick, with Nate Thomas adding three helpers. Harrison Johnson and Shea each dished out a helper.

Freeport 11,
Morse 6

Saturday, at Bath
Freeport— 3242—11
Morse— 1311— 6
Goals — (F) Evan Owen 2, Connor
Dostie 2, Eli Fox 3, Reid Poissonnier,
Evan Donald 2, Eriksen Shea; (Mo)
Cameron Marco 2, Matt Belanger 3,
Braden Olsen.
Assists — (F) Connor Dostie, Harrison Johnson, Nate Thomas 3, Eriksen
Shea; (Mo) Pat McKenna, Declan
Hall.
Shots — Morse 38, Freeport 32.
Saves — (F) Zac Wogan 19; (Mo)
Nate Knight 13.
Man-up opportunities — Freeport 1-
for-4; (Mo) 2-of-11.
Face-offs — Freeport 14; Morse 5.
Records — Freeport 1-2, Morse 0-3.
Up next for the Falcons — Tuesday
at home against Wells, 4 p.m.
Up next for the Shipbuilders —
Tuesday at home vs. Brunswick, 5
p.m.